Method and device for producing stroboscopic light effects



Aug. 5, A. ABEL METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING STROBOS COPIC LIGHT EFFECTS Filed 001:. 24, 1929 SSheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 5, 1930. A. ABEL 1,772,410

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING S TROBOSGOPIC LIGHT EFFECTS Filed Oct. 24, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jaye/rial:

Au'g.5, 1 930. ABEL v 1,772,410

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING STROBOSGOPIC LIGHT EFFECTS Filed Oct. 24,- 1929' 3 Shee'lis-Sheet 5 Jzwenior:

Jitorneq;

90. could not be eliminated Patented Aug.

U ITE JASTATES/ PATENT, OFFI-. CI E IL I aueusr Arm), or rnrrzfe, GERMANY mrrnon m) nnvrcn ron rnonucine srnonescoric LIen'r armors Application fled Qetober 24, 1989, Serial No.

This invention relates to methods and means for producing stroboscopic light effects and aims to provide important and novel improvements in the same.

It is a known fact that inertialesssources of li ht such as Geissler-tubes or neon-tubes whic are illuminated by individual electric impulses, produce stroboscopic light efiects when set into correspondingly quick rota- It) tion. Numerous attempts however to utilize this phenomenon for advertising purposes and to cause high frequency tubes to. act in the desiredsense have failed to produce the desired results owing to the lowintensity 1 of light. In effort to surmount this difliculty,

large neon-tubes were tried,.but these were found to be dangerouson account of the feed of high tension alternating current to the quickly rotating tubes .oyer ordinary brush 2 contacts and owing to the risk of the fragile glass tubes breaking under theinfluence of centrifugal force set up by the quick rota tion. To all this must be added the disadvantage of the unreliable aifixture of the glass tubes to their carriers, as the great difierences' of temperature and consequent expansion which occur render a reliable manner of fix- ,ing' very difiicult. The risk of accidents from bursting of the quickly rotating tubes withsufli'cient certainty. a.

The invention aims toprovide new ways and means of producing stroboscopic eifects of a kind which are particularly suited to advertisingpurposes and which entirely eliminate the aforesaid dangers and objections.

The invention provides means to achieve the.

purpose with absolute certainty and moreover offers a much wider scogieof development of stroboscopic eifect's or advertising purposes than has been' the casewith the known devices above referred-to. For the purpose of producing said advantages, the invention roadly consists in" a newlnethod of producing constantly changing stroboscopie advertising. display by llluminating, within an intermittent luminpus field, a body of suitable shape and carrying pictorial elements or advertising" matter, by means of individual flashw of hght of short 402,251, and in'Germany September 57, 1938'.

duration and suitable frequency, moving said bod at suitable speed within the luminous fiel andautomatically changing the ratio of the speed of the body to the frequency of the intermittent luminous field so as to thereby produce constantly changing strobosco ic eifects such as illusionary ornamental com inations, tempera forward movements, standstills and bac ard movements.

By the denomination pictorial elements, so

parts of ornaments or figure representations are intended to be understood, which elements are arrangeddisconnectedfrom each. other upon the carrier and which, during their movement according to the invention 5 appear to flow or merge together into comp ete figures or ornamental combinations. These representations may consist, of impervious or transparent surface designs, or'may be formed by plastic body representations.

" The object of the new methodwill in all rent. If thetsaid body is to be moved under infalling light, then its surface-is provided with strongly lighbreflecting parts, or wigk V reflecting metallic white or color portions such as spots, designs, ornaments, trade marks or advertis' scriptive matter. If moved in penetrating hght, i. e. in front I of the'intermittent source of light, its surface is provided with'perforations, cuttings or other portions pervious to the light and which also ma be in the shape of designs '95 and the like. ccording to the arrangement, shape vor configuration of the said surface designs or permeable portions and in accord.- 'ance with the moving speed of said body (hereinafter the carrier) and the continuous or intermittent variations'in the ratio of its movement to the sequence of the electric impulses, stroboscopic effects are produced which appear either slowly or quickly to move forward or backward, or to remain at standstill, or to multiply into varying numbers. These stroboscopic effects may also be caused to appear in colors whenever the said designs and the like, or the projected intermittent light is colored.

It is also possible, according to the invention, to move the carrierin the intermittent luminous field simultaneously or successively in several directions. Also, several divisions of the carrier or several individual carriers of the same or different kind may be moved "in the same or opposite directions at "even,

different, or variable speeds, and the subdivided carriers to be illuminated by reflecting or penetrating light may be arranged in sequential order, or superposed as well as juxtaposed.

The reflection from or the transparency of the movable carriers may also be caused by several luminous tubes of various colors at the same or at different places, and the various colors may be caused to light up simultaneously or in alternation.

If it is desired to produce merely stroboscopic luminous effects, or color and design effects of a somewhat blurred or fading ap-' earanoe, i. e. with no sharp outlines, it Wlll be suflicient to charge the luminous tubes with sinusoidal current impulses of the alternating current, or of alternating current produced in dlrect current converters. However, if itis desired that the designs. and, in particular, letters and words should ap ear in clear outlines, even at great speed 0 the movable carrier, it is advisable. to shorten .the period of the individual flashes of the electric impulses. This may be effected either by arranging a spark gap in front of the luminous tube, or, in the caseof direct current, by quick interruptions as by means of o timum can easily be arrived at by suitably timing the moment of interruption. In the last two instances one may, if desired, introduce a spark gap before the luminous tube.

Of the manydifferent ways of'carrying the fundamental invention into effect, several examples are illustrated diagrammatically in part, in the accompanying drawings. According to size, configuration and outfit, the various forms may be put up in shop windows, at the fronts or upon the roofs of buildings or in the open. .In the latter cases, the provision of a waterproof enclosure is advisable. i

Figs. 1 and 2 are side and front elevations respectively of the device for use with reflecting lights;

Fi s. 3 and iare similar views of the device or use with transmitted light;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of an arrange .ment similar to Fig. l with the side wall removed but including the necessary mechanical and electrical arrangements;

. Fig. 6 is a front elevation o the device of Fig. 5 with part of the carrier broken away; igs. 7 8 and 9 show details of parts;

Figs. 10 and 11 represent a side elevation and plan view respectively of a modified form of device in which the display surface is made in cylindricalshape; and

Figs. 12, I 13 and 14 illustrate different views of a device in which the carrier is made in the shape of an endless belt or apron.

Referring first and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the part denoted by the reference letter (1 forms the light-reflecting body or carrier,'which is in the shape of a circular disc and is adapted to rotate in a luminous field produced by the annular luminous tube 6 arranged around its circumference. Rotation of the carrier is effected by an electric motor d carried upon a common support a as shown. The letter e denotes a reflector encircling said luminous tube and at the same time preventing the egress of the rays of light in the direction of the observer. Instead of using only one luminous tube, several of such tubes obviously may be used in either like or different colors and adapted to be lighted all simultaneously or successively. In the latter case, an automatic switch of any well known kind would be advisable to control the lighting in proper order.

In order that the rays which are projected from the lower portion of the tube b onto the disc a shall not be inefi'ectually reflected therefrom in upward direction above the heads of the observers, but shall be frontways and sideways, it is advisable to make the surface of the said disc orcarrier not entirely smooth, or in other words to make it more or less undulating by forming grooves,

ribs or like elevations and depressions in the surface, which greatly favor the dispersion of. the light towards all sides thereof. If.

desired, these elevations and depressions may be made upon a non-reflecting surface and may represent designs, ornaments or inscriptions as indicated at fin Fig. 2. As an alternative, the carrier disk a may be provided with designs or ornaments either in black and white, or colored, in which latter case it is preferred to choose the same colors as those reflected from the luminous tubes. Byarranging the colors in progressive succession'. i. e. one after the other as seen in the direction of rotation, new effects are ob- If it' is desired to cause representations or,

which is more important, letters or a *word such as a name or a trade mark to always ap-' pear well recognizable upon the surface of the disc, the said representation or word will. have to be applied radially. In accordance with varying numbers of rotation of the car I'ier in relation to'the periodicity of the electric impulses passing through the tube, the said word or other representation will appear either singly or multiplied once or sev- 'eral times, and also stationary or moving forward-or backward. It will, however,-al-

' ways be clearly readable and likewise so if Q arranged in annular disposition also, in which case it. must not be too long sif ce its circular track of movement should t en be small and the speed of rotation on which its multi licati'on' depends, must be chosen so.

that t e letters of the stroboscopically multi plied word do not cover or obliterate one another. On the other hand, b suitably altering the rotary speed of the isc, one may, for a short interval, purposely obliterate the word so that when the obliteration is-again removed, the sudden clearness of the outlines will come as a sur rise.-

- 'As-an. alternat1ve, when representations s h for example as ornamentations or color d signs are applied not in radial formation but infring-shape side b side in the direction of rotation,'they woul seem to more or less overlap each other inaccordance with the senseof rotation, and to ther'eby'produce new 1 designs and ornamentations, which, with the alterations in"the'.speed, undergo constant changes. If these ornaments or designs are printed in-color, color efiects will be pro-- duced which canbe made to undergo. constant changes by altering the speed of rotation ofthe disc; Countlessnumbersof these light andcolor'effects and varying designs are rendered possible: by these stroboscopic means and. their ;.con'tinuously' changing apf pearances brin about mostsurprising effects highly desirab e infadvertising, a

' In Figs. 3 a'nd4 isfshown an arrangement of the device for use with transmitted light.

In this, as in'the' first arrangement, a rotating. disc (1 is employed as the carrier, but

whereas the sameinthe first example is arranged to rotate at the rear of the luminous field and formed with perforate or trans parent portions g representing letters, -ornaments, words, or the like as before described.

/The liiminous' field isprouided'by a vertical grate Iike arrangement of luminous tubes h,

spirallywound or star-shaped tube,

' or several colors. In the case of a ors, while with a spir which may be either white or colored in one rate-like arrangement of the tubes, they may e so disposed, for example as to have three juxtaposed or superposed agroups of different colformation of the tubes.

such as represented-in Fig. 4, the inner circle,

the outer circle, and the intermediate coils may be each'of a difierent color. ,A radial or star-sha d arrangement of tubes woii d referably ave the .arms or sectors in di erent colors. Briefly, it may be said that the appropriate color arrangement in each case would depend upon the kind of transparent designs employed and upon the color effects which it is desired to produce. At the back of the luminous tubes h is provided a reflector i, but otherwisethe organization is the-same as already described with reference to Figs. 1' and 2. Obviously, this-novel stroboscopifi light advertising device may be combined th orbrought into alternate 'action with any other electric light advertising devices. For instance,- an electriclight sign composed of lamps or tubes may be arranged around the stroboscopic display field so as to switch on when the stroboscopic device. isturned out, and vice versa.

As aforesaid, the variation in ratio between the speed of the carrier and the frequency of the luminous field may be brought about in several ways. According to Figs. 5

and 6, this variation is effected by mechanical means, including a friction-clutch for tempojrarily declutchlng the disc-shaped carrier,

(corresponding to a of the precedingflfig-fl ures) from itsdriving electric motor so that. the rotary speed thereof will fall 01f quickly,

while the frequency of the luminous field remains constant. This results from the fact that the revdl-utionsfof the motor which may also drive the interrupter, are not altered.

However, before the carrier reaches a standlife still or its revolutions approximate the zero point, it is again automatically clutched to its driving motor, so that the revolutions will immediately begin'to increase in number.

erence numeral denotes the electric driving motor. one end of the motor shaft'is a coupling 7 6- connecting said shaft with the In the last mentioned two figu res,the ref-.

speed gear shaft =78, which rotates in bearing 7 7 On said gear shaft atthe right hand side of thebearing 77 is keyed a small pinion.

79 and at the left hand side thereof is the fixed clutch. memberSO of a friction cone 1 clutch. The shaft 78 is thus rotatable continuously withtheclutch member 80 thereon, field, it is in this case rotated in front of said key-way connection atone end of the carrier shaft 83 which is coaxial withthe shaft 78 and is journalled. in 'the bearing 82.: The otherend of the carrier shaft 83 carries the disc 85 fastenedthereon by means ofa. detachable .a compression spring 90 on the circumference of the cam 92 on shaft91. This shaft 91 is rotated by the gear shaft 78 over a reduction gear conslsting of cog and worm wheels, since the rotation of the cam 92 must be very slow as compared with the rotary speed of the driving gear shaft 78. Said reduction gear comprises the aforesaid pinion 79 which meshes with the toothed wheel 95 on a shaft 94 below and parallel to the gear shaft. The

'' last named shaft rotates in bearings 96, 97

closed, while the outerrin on the machine frame 98 and carries a worm 93 which drives a worm wheel 99 onshaft 91. The ratio of the'toothed gear to the worm gear is such that the frictionclutch-member 81 is re-engaged always after the number of revolutions of the carrier disc 85 has come to a certain minimum value.

The picture elements and/or representations on the carrier disc 85 are-illuminatedhy a luminous field such as already described, consisting of separate flashes of light of very short duration following each other in quick succession. According to Fig. 5, this luminous field is produced by an annular gasfille-d luminous tube 102 which is arranged within an annular screen or reflector 103 preventing the projection of light rays in undesired directions. The entire apparatus is en'- closed within a casing 104.

The electrical arrangement for the production of the peculiar luminous field referred to is also shown in Fig. 5, while Figs.

7, 8 and 9 illustrate the edge and oppositesides of the interrupter disc in detail. This interrupter may be of any known or convenient kind. In the drawings it is shown as of disc-sha c with brush contacts. It is positioned at t e right hand end of the motor shaft and consists of an insulating disc 105 having two current conducting rings 106, 107 on o posite sides which are in electrical connectlon with each other by' means of the bridge piece 108. The inner ring 106 is 107 is open at 107'}. Contact spring-brus es 109 and 110 respectively are provided to ride over the two rings. The innermost brush 109 is in permanent contact with the inner ring 106,

whereas the outermost brush 110 riding over the outer ring 107 causes an interruption of the rimary' circuit every time it passes the brea -gap 107. Connection and arrangement of the electrical devices used are shown diagrammatically for the sake of simplicity,

because these parts are generally known and re uire no detailed illustration.

t 111 and 112 direct current, for example, may be introduced-into the device for the second contact brush 109 into the primary production of the luminous field, and at 113 and 114 to the electric motor. From 111 the current is led to the contact brush 110 of the interrupter, whence it takes its way over the coil 115 of the 'transformer115. Connected in parallel to the two contact. brushes is a condenser 116 of suitable capacity for re-" gas-filled luminous tube 102. Also-the said spark gap 117 is chiefly employed to vary the time of duration of the quickly succeeding light flashes of'the luminous tube.

It, is expressly understood, that the afore- I described arrangement and combination of parts in the device are given by way of example only, as other mechanical and electrical arrangements may .be chosen in great variety for the purpose of Varying the ratio of the speed of the carrier to the frequency of the luminous field.

or in theshape of any'other solid, and causing it to rotate either on a vertical, horizontal oran oblique axis. Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate a cylindrical formation of the carrier adapted to turn on an upri ht shafta In these figures the light reflecting cylindrical body is represented at a, the generating surface of which may be ornamented substantially similar to the surface of the carrier disc a referred to above. Said cylinder turns on the vertical shaft k while Z is tlflectric motor provided to rotate the cylinder at suitable speed. Naturally, both the cylinderand its axis may be disposed horizontally instead of vertically. The luminous tube denoted by the letterm, is circular and supported within thetroof-shaped reflector n of the device. The reflecting signs or lettering, as well as the figures, designs, or ornaments and ornament elements may be substantially the same as those'referred to with regard to the disc-shaped carriers of Figs. 1 to 4.

For use with transmitted light, the cyl-.

'inderor cone-shaped body is provided with perforations. An arrangement ofsuch description being a very simple expedient Figs. 12 to 14, illustrate a further modifi cation in which the movablecarrier is represented by an apron or 1 screen adapted to be moved in a plane past an observation window of the apparatus. The apron is denoted by the letter a and is trained overrollers o,

apron will have to be provided with perforations or cuttings, as above stated, and the I one of which is driven by the electric motor p. The luminous tubesg are arranged in front of the reflector r, or so as partly to be surrounded by the same. They producethe intermittent light for the luminous field in which the "apron a}; is adapted to move. The outer surface of' the said apron, similar to the foregoin -modificati ons, is made lightreflecting an may be provided with designs as in the aforedescribed examples. t

If transmitted light-is to be used, the

luminous tubes-arranged as shown in Fig. 13

This arrangement for use with transmitted light is, on account of its strong lighting effect, especially suited for those cases in which the advertising displays must be recognizable from greater distance, as or example in outdoor installations atthe, cuts or upon the roofs of buildings. It is also possible to. combine the reflecting and the transmitted light arrangements in such a manner for example, that only one of the two arrangements will work at a time, while the other is automatically cut out by any known or convenient means. 7 v The invention obviously is not confined to the shape and arrangement of the parts.

shown in-the drawings, as other modifications and alterations may be resorted to without .therebydeparting from the scope of the nvention. make the rotating'disc orcarrier of two or more concentric arts which may be driven at difierent 'spee' s or inmutually opposing directions, and the diiferen't speeds maybe" sub ectedZ to mutually diiferent variations.

- If the movable bod is a cylinder, it may be divided in a s arv manner intofiseveral parts and these parts likewise may be driven at various speeds or in opposing directions. As the speed at which the movable body or I carrier, in whatever shape it may he, must be varied in-order; to bring about surprising illusions, thevariations may effected auto v matically as desired by 0th r means than shown in Figs. 5- and .6.v For instance, the

drivin electric *motor may tem rarily cut off .an automatic switch until lts'speed of rotation has decreased to a extent, whereupon it is automatically switched on It is possible, forexample, to

fashion articles, household artlcles'or ma-.

as by means of suitable intermediate gearmg. Instead-of varying the number of. ro-

of the alternating current'fonthe illumination of the tubes may be varied for example tations of the electric motor,'the periodicity by automatically altering the rotary sligd of own the direct current converter by any means. All these variousmethods are entirely incidental to the fundamental invention, and it is immaterial whether or not' the intermittent luminous tubes are firmly connected to, the stroboscopic device. Such might be the case when the. luminous tubes .i are employed at the same time to serve some 7 additional purpose,- as for example, for the lighting of localities. In such cases the in-. stallation of a stroboscopic movement would be quite suflicient, provided of course, that.

the light of the luminous lighting tubes is sufiioiently strong as-to render a special concentration of thesame unnecessary, andthat the angle under which the light fromthe tubes illuminates the. display matter is suitable. 1

'Finall the stroboscopic light and the form an color effects produced y the inter cles to be advertised, or the article itself, or 4 .7

block-type lettering, or any other bodily repr'esentationsf or ornaments, as indicated: by

' mittent lighting are not confined to plane the cigarette 118 upon the disk-shaped carrier 8'5 in'Figs. 5and 6. It will be'understood that the cigarette shown mayalso be representedby an imitation on either a reduced or enlarged scale. In the same manner, other advertising-articles such as lotion bottles, ori a1" packets of merchandise,

0 i r chines as vacuum cleaners, and others, may be employed-either in original or in natural,--

plain or colored plastic imitations. In thisway, very surprising and" highly effective stroboscopic multiplications and motion effects can be produced with the original arti- -cles, or their body representations, in'their natural colors and configurations. Other ter. Thus, there maybe simultaneuosly arranged upon one and the same carrier, colored plastic ornaments, lastic letters, and

plastic stroboscopic efiehmts can be obtained i by the provision upon plastic designs or'representations of real a r ticlesto be advertised and to therewith produce the and colored plastic and motive efiects whic have' been described and 55 of the display matter.

the production ofwhich constitutes one of the main objects of this invention.

What I claim is: t

1. The method of producing constantly changin advertising display, which consists in illuminating a body of suitable shape, carrying plastic advertising representations standing clear thereof within an intermittent luminous field by means of individual flashes I of light of short duration at a constant frequency, moving said body within said luminous field normally at a constant speed and varying the speed of movement thereof intermittently so as to thereby produce constantly changing stroboscopic effects such. as

illusionary multiplication of said plastic representations in space as well as temporary forward movements, standstills, and backward movements of the same. i

'20 2. A device for cariying out the described method of roducing constantly changing advertisin isplay, comprising means including luminous-tubes for producing an intermittent luminous field at a constant frequencyby intermittent light flashes of short duration,

a movable-body in said luminous field, display matter carried b said movable body, means for movin said ody continuously and at constant s cc within the luminous field,

and means or varying the speed. of said bodys movement intermittently so as to produce moving and constantly changing stroboscopic eflects, such as illusionary ornamental combinations, multiplications, "temporary 7 forward movements, standstills, and backward movements of the display matter.

3. A device 'for producing constantly changing advertising display, comprising a stationary set of luminous tubes, electric 40 means for illuminating said tubes by intermittent current impulses at a constant frequency so as to cause said tubes to produce an intermittent luminousfield, a movable carrier bearing display matte in said luminous 5 field, said carrier. being a apted to receive and reflect the rays emanating from said tubes, meansior moving said carrier in the luminous field at a constant speed, and means for varying the speed of the carriers move- F ment intermittently so as to produce moving movi ments into complete ornaments, and means for varying the speed of the carriers movement' intermittently and independently of the frequency of the luminous field to thereby produce theillusion of said elements com- .bming and discombinmg to new and constantly changing ornamental combinations. 5. In a device for producing stroboscopic lighting effects, a stationary set of luminous tubes, means for imparting electric current impulses to said tubes for producing an in-- termittent luminous field by light flashes at a constant frequency, a carrier movable in said luminous field, elevated portions such as letters, words, designs or other display matter so mittently and independently of the frequency of the luminous field to thereby cause illusionary multiplication and movement of said elevated portions.

6. In a device for producing strobosco ic lighting effects, a stationary and prefera inertialess course of intermittent lighting producing a luminous field by individual flashes of light from an electrical source at a constant frequency, means for generating electric impulses in said source of light, means carrier at a constant speed within said luminous field and means for varying its speed of movement intermittently.

7. In a device for producing stroboscopic lighting effects, stationary luminous tubes for producing an intermittent luminous field by light flashes at a constant frequency, means for electrically energizing said tubes at de-' sired frequency, an electric spark gap arrangement for controlling or varying the time of duration of each of the light flashes of the luminous field, a carrier bearing light-re sponding display matter movable in said luminous field, means for moving the carrier at a constant speed within said luminous field and means for'varving its speed of movement 11 intermittently and independently of the frequency of the luminous field.

8. In a device for producing stroboscopic lighting effects, stationary luminous tubes for a circuit interrupter, means for subsequently transforming the circuit up to the working tension of the-luminous tubes, a carrier bearing light-responding display matter movable in said luminous field,mean's for moving the the carrier at a constant speed to 05 cause i lusionary unison of-said pictorial ele= carrier at a constant speed within said lumi- 13o light-responding display matter carried by said carrier, means for rotating said disc at a constant speed Within the luminous field, and means for varying the speed of said carriers rotation intermittently.

10. In a device for producing stroboscopic lighting effects, luminous and preferably inertialess tubes for producing an intermittent luminous field by electric light flashes at a constant frequency, a carrier having a continuous surface rotatably arranged in said luminous field, means for rotating said carrier Within said luminous'field-at constant speed, and means for varying the. speed of the carriers rotation intermittently and incause the intermittent li ht from'the luminous tubes to be reflecte from-said .plastic' representations, and means for varying the speed of said carriers movement intermittently and independently of the frequency of the luminous field so as to cause changing effects of illusionary standstill and forward and backward movement of said plastic representations in space. i

' In testimony whereof I afiix. mysi ture.

AUGUST A EL.

dependently of the frequency of the intermittent luminous field.

11. A .device'for producing stroboscopic lighting effects comprising a casing having an open front, luminous tubes ofsuitable frequency arranged in said casing around said open front and adapted to produce a luminous field within the space of the casing" adjacent said front at a constant frequency, wreflector in said 'casing concealing the luminous-tubes from sight, a'carrier having a continuous surface adapted for movement in'the space of said open front, light-responding display,

matter on thesurface of said carrier, means for moving said carrier in said luminous field at a constant speed with its surface visi- V ble through said-open front'and means for varying its speed of movement intermittently and-independently of the frequency of ,the

i luminous field.

512. In a device for producing stroboscopic 1 lighting effects, a set of arc-shaped stationary luminous tubes of diflz'erent colors adapted to produce a colored luminousfield by light flashes at a constant frequency, means for supplying electric impulses tosaid tubes atdesired frequency, a carrier bearing light-responding display matter, means for moving said carrierat a constant speed within said luminous field and means-automatically operable to retard the speed of the carriers movement intermittently. I

13. Ina device for producing stoboscopic lighting effects, an arrangement of inertialess luminous tubes for producing a luminous field by light flashes at a constant frequency,

means for supplying electric impulses to said tubes at desired current frequency, a carrier movable in said luminous field, pla'stic representations of articles carried. by. said carrier, means for moving said carrier at a constant speed within said luminous field so as to 

